Wednesday, Oct 06, 2010
Gulf News
Eisa has been an outspoken critic of Mubarak
Cairo Less than two weeks after Egypt closed down a privately owned TV station, the new publisher of Al Destour, one of Egypt’s most popular independent newspapers, has sacked its chief editor Ebrahim Eisa, an outspoken critic of President Hosni Mubarak.
The decision to axe Eisa, who has been the editor of the newspaper since it was first published in 1995, came two months after Al Destour was sold to Al Sayed Al Badawi, a business tycoon and the chief of the opposition Al Wafd Party, in a deal reported to be worth 20 million Egyptian pounds (Dh13 million).
In 2008, Eisa was sentenced to two months in jail for allegedly publishing rumours about Mubarak’s health. But Mubarak, who has been in power for almost 30 years, pardoned Eisa at the time.
Al Badawi, meanwhile, said he would quit as the board chairman of the newspaper, to devote himself to running Al Wafd Party. Al Badawi, however, denied that politics was behind sacking Eisa whom he said he respects. “He [Eisa] can continue writing his articles in the newspaper in return for getting all his financial entitlements,” Al Badawi told a press conference in Cairo.
Al Baradei’s article
Eisa said that pressure on the new publisher intensified after the newspaper carried an article by pro-reform campaigner Mohammad Al Baradei on Egypt’s failures 37 years after the October war against Israel.
“There is a plan to gag the independent press in the run-up to the [November parliamentary elections and the presidential] elections later next year,” he added.
Sources at the newspaper say the move reflects the new publisher’s dissatisfaction with its editorial policy.
“Eisa is known for allowing the [banned] Muslim Brotherhood to express their views on the pages of Al Destour. This did not appeal to the new board,” a source told Gulf News.
“The staff of the newspaper have been on strike since Monday night in protest against the sacking decision.”
A show, hosted by Eisa on O TV, a channel owned by the business mogul Najeeb Sawiris, was also axed three weeks ago. The action against Eisa has come days after the authorities closed down the pay-TV Orbit, which used to air the popular talk show Cairo Today.
Officials in the governmental Media City, where the Saudi-owned Orbit transmitted its programmes, say the closure was due to the failure of the channel to comply with its legal and financial commitments. They added that Orbit had defaulted on paying more than 5 million Egyptian pounds in debts to Media City.
Closure of Orbit
Critics of the government, however, claim that Orbit was closed for its vociferous criticism of Mubarak’s government, ahead of crucial parliamentary and presidential elections.
“The closure of Orbit violates all agreements signed by Egypt to espouse freedom of expression,” said the Centre of the Right to Democracy and Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation.
“The board of Media City had planned to shut down the channel in order to get rid of the headache caused by the widely popular show Cairo Today,” added the centre in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Gulf News.
AP
Extending their support
Egyptian journalists protest in Cairo with posters showing Ebrahim Eisa after an appeals court upheld a guilty verdict against him for stories questioning the Egyptian president’s health on September 28, 2008.
Eisa is known for allowing the [banned] Muslim Brotherhood to express their views on the pages of Al Destour. This did not appeal to the new board.”
A source
By Ramadan Al Sherbini?Correspondent
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
